~*~

Voldemort screamed in agony and tried to free himself from the hellhound's jaws, but Harry bit down on the evil wizard's ugly head. Blood was flowing down his throat, and Harry almost gagged at the taste of it. It did not taste like the Death Eater's or Bellatrix's; it tasted rotten and dead.

Harry realized that he could not let go of Voldemort, and so he risked trying to drag him out of the twilight with him. Albus had never trained him to do this, and so he was uncertain if he could manage it. It was hard, but Harry did it. He could not see much of his surroundings and risked being in a bad position outside the twilight.

The moment he appeared with Voldemort in his muzzle, he could hear screams around him. He was in the middle of the remaining Death Eaters who aimed there wands at him now. None of them dared to cast a Killing Curse in fear of hitting Voldemort, who still was wriggling like a worm to free himself. A very bloody worm. Harry feared he would die just from tasting his rotten blood. He was fighting hard against his gag reflex. Curse after cure hit him, and Harry repeated his mantra of 'Severus-Alastor-Poppy' in his head to keep himself conscious. He heard the sound of bodies hitting the ground while his friends took down one Death Eater after the other, who were all concentrating on Harry and Voldemort.

"Let go of him!" Harry heard Albus scream, and that was everything he needed to relax his unbearably hurting jaw as he fell into unconsciousness.

~*~

The first thing Harry did when he woke up was vomiting. Someone held a bucket under his mouth and another person held him from behind.

"Just let it out, Harry," Alastor's gentle voice came from behind him, and Harry could feel Alastor's chest vibrate against his back. He felt safe in those strong arms, but the pain and the sickness were unbearable, and he started to sob.

"I will give you something soon, Harry, but we have to get all the blood out," Poppy said calmly.

Blood? Harry jerked his eyes open, and what he saw in the bucket turned his stomach again. When he only gagged dryly, Poppy cast a Relaxing Charm on Harry, and he fell back into Alastor's embrace. A vial was pressed to his lips, and he automatically gulped down the potion. The sickness ebbed slowly. "We have to wait until you don't feel sick anymore. Otherwise the Pain Potion will come back up," Poppy explained while gently stroking Harry's hair.

Harry had closed his eyes again and enjoyed the soothing feeling Poppy's hand and Alastor's embrace caused. His head hurt like hell, and he had the feeling his jaw was swollen and broken in several places. His internal organs were on fire and cramped torturously.

"It's safe now, Harry. Open up." Poppy gently coaxed Harry's swollen jaw open and gave him the pain killer.

"Much better," Harry said and sighed in relief. He opened his eyes and took in more of his surroundings. He was in Alastor and Poppy's bedroom again, and he was lying between them. Next to Poppy's side of the bed stood another bed in which Severus lay. He watched with worried and very sad eyes.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"You need to rest, Harry. You shouldn't even be awake now. Drink this," Poppy instructed.

"No, please." Harry tried to turn his face away, but Alastor did not let him. He held him in place for Poppy, and she gave him the Sleeping Potion.

The next time Harry woke up, he was in a lot of pain again, but at least he did not feel like vomiting. Poppy waved her wand over him the moment he blinked. "How do you feel, Harry?" she asked kindly as she grabbed for two vials on the night table.

"Still so much pain," Harry groaned.

"I know, my boy. Alastor will help you to sit up, okay?" Poppy asked.

"‘Kay," Harry croaked.

"Come on, lad, after the potions you will feel much better." Alastor's deep voice was so calming.

"‘Kay," Harry said and then moaned in pain when Alastor lifted him onto his lap.

"Shh, it will be soon better, lad," Alastor whispered in Harry's ear.

After drinking all the potions, Harry indeed felt much better.

"Better?" Poppy asked.

"Yes," Harry answered, relieved.

"And you, Severus?" Poppy asked her other patient.

"Useless as ever," Severus replied bitterly.

"Severus, please, we have discussed this so many times. You won't be as powerful as before, but you are still a wizard. With a bit of training, no one will notice any handicap," Poppy scolded.

"Handicap," Severus spat angrily. "I'm almost a Squib."

"Stop it, boy. We talked about it. We will train, and you will return to your normal self," Alastor said in the no-nonsense voice that Poppy used.

"And what will you do about this?" Severus asked and held up his bandaged hands.

"They will heal, and with a bit of physical exercise, you will be capable of brewing in a few weeks," Poppy said in a tone as if she was speaking with a small child.

"I cannot even feel them," Severus said hopelessly.

"Severus, really. I placed a medical spell on them so that you won't be able to feel them or move them. I told you that before. Your mind is still not working properly," Poppy explained for the tenth time.

"My mind?" Severus asked, shocked. "What is wrong with my mind?" Severus started to panic.

"I'll be back in a minute, Harry," Alastor said and gently lay Harry back. Then he went over to Severus, who was trying to leave in his panic. Quickly, Alastor embraced him from behind and sat down with him on the bed again. "Calm down, Severus. Poppy will take care of you. She always has, hasn't she?"

"But my mind. She said something is not right with my mind. I...I cannot even recall her words anymore. What did she say?" Severus struggled weakly in Alastor's arms.

"Shh, Severus, your mind is fine," Alastor said, drawing Severus onto his lap and pressing him tightly against his chest.

Severus was so confused that he did not realize that Poppy had filled a syringe and that Alastor was holding his arm out for Poppy to inject the strong Calming Potion into his vein.

"My mind," Severus mumbled, scared.

Poppy placed the empty syringe on the night table and cupped Severus' face in her hands. "Your mind is all right, Severus. You just need more rest," Poppy said soothingly. She hummed something like a children's song while gently stroking Severus' cheeks with her thumb until his eyes shut.

"Is his mind really okay?" Harry asked worriedly when Alastor and Poppy were back to the bed.

"He is better than we hoped. His mind will be all right after a few more days of bed rest. His hands will need a few weeks to heal, and then he has to train hard to get them as quick and flexible as they were before. His magic will never be the same, but he isn't a squib and can even train to become better with the help of a special healer. He will be able to live like he did before. He just can't take part of a battle again and we hope that no war will come up soon."

Suddenly, Harry realized that he had not asked the most important question. He jerked around to face Alastor. "Voldemort?"

"No, I'm not Voldemort. Maybe you should check him for any brain damage, Poppy," Alastor teased, pretending to be worried.

"No, I mean-" He stopped when Alastor chuckled.

"Sorry, lad. It was too tempting."

"Very funny, Alastor," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Is he dead?" Fear and hope fought in Harry's chest.

"Yes, he is," Alastor said seriously. "Albus finished Voldemort off after you let go of him."

Harry sighed, relieved. "So it is finally over."

"Yes, it is, Harry, but you and Severus have long weeks of recovery in front of you. The battle is not over for you two. It would be best if you both helped each other with your recovery. You saw that Severus is very depressed, and he always seem to find a new will for life around you. I hope you can help him this time as well. You will be in a lot of pain for some time, and I can't always give you a pain killer. If you two could distract each other, it would help. Maybe we will take a vacation so that you two can see more than just the boring walls inside Hogwarts," Poppy suggested.

"Vacation? Really?" Harry sat up, excited, but immediately winced. The pain killer had taken away most of the pain, but it hurt immensely when he moved too quickly.

"Yes, vacation. But only after you two have rested up," Poppy said and gently pressed Harry back. "Now sleep some more, Harry."

Harry closed his eyes. He was free now. His family was around him. Severus would get better again, and with their help, he would be able to live as he had before. They could brew together without having a crazy wizard after them. And vacation. Oh, that sounded so nice. Harry always wanted to be able to go on a vacation, and now he could spend a vacation with the people he loved and that loved him. With something very good to look forward to, Harry fell asleep with a smile on his face.